EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, who served as the former prime minister of Estonia, is calling on Trump to use his influence to apply pressure to Hungary and Slovakia to end the import of Russian energy.
Politico wrote that “while underscoring that Europe had already reduced its use of Russian energy, Kallas argued that Washington had a role to play in convincing Hungary and Slovakia — the two biggest importers of Russian energy in the bloc — to sever their dependence. She stressed that the U.S. has ‘leverage’ over those countries, pointing to a phone call between Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a positive step.”
However, Hungarian news outlet Mandiner noted that Trump reportedly showed he was understanding of Hungary’s position on Russian energy after a phone call last week with Orbán. While the exact details of the conversation remain mostly under wraps, the two leaders reportedly discussed the war in Ukraine and the issue of Russian energy. Orbán reportedly told Trump that switching away from Russian energy would raise prices for Hungarians in a variety of areas.
Notably, Orbán was a strong backer of Trump during his reelection campaign — the only leader in Europe to thoroughly back Trump. Trump, who notoriously values loyalty, may be willing to give Orbán a pass on the issue, but certainly, other factors could sway Trump’s stance in the future.
Kallas also said that Donald Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine, so he cannot shift the burden of the war onto Europe.
“He was the one who promised to stop the killing,” Kallas said. “So it can’t be on us.”
She made the comments following Trump’s Truth Social post last week, in which he said Ukraine should reclaim all its lost territory from Russia, writing that it “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
However, there are some in Europe who are questioning this newfound position from Trump.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that the U.S. is actually washing its hands of the conflict in Ukraine and increasingly shifting the burden to EU countries.
Prezydent Trump stwierdził, że Ukraina może, ze wsparciem Unii Europejskiej, odzyskać całe swoje terytorium. Za tym zaskakującym optymizmem kryje się zapowiedź mniejszego zaangażowania USA i przerzucenie odpowiedzialności za zakończenie wojny na Europę. Lepsza prawda niż iluzje.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) September 25, 2025“President Trump stated that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, could reclaim its entire territory. Behind this surprising optimism lies a promise of reduced U.S. involvement and a shift of responsibility for ending the war to Europe. Better truth than illusions,” wrote Tusk.
However, what Tusk may mean is that the EU may now have to increasingly pay for U.S. involvement in Ukraine, instead of the U.S. simply shipping weapons to Ukraine at its own cost. In other words, Trump wants the EU to buy U.S. weapons and then transfer them to Ukraine.
